Softball Travels to Pitt for Season Finale
May 01, 2015 | Softball
Complete Game Notes vs Pittsburgh 
The University of Louisville softball team will wrap up the regular season with a three-game ACC series at Pittsburgh this weekend. The teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 1 p.m. before concluding the series on Sunday with a 12 p.m. first pitch.
Series Info: Louisville at Pittsburgh
Date: May 2-3, 2015
Location: Pittsburgh, Pa.
Venue: Vartabedian Field
Webcast: PittsburghPanthers.com
Gametracker: GoCards.com
Twitter Updates: @UofLSoftball
Cardinal Quick Hits
• Louisville brings a 28-15 overall record into the weekend and currently stands fourth in the ACC with a 14-6 mark in league play.
• Senior Kelsi Jones leads the team with a .392 batting average, 25 runs,12 stolen bases and an ACC-best 17 doubles. Sophomore Jordan McNary follows closely at a .390 clip. Sophomore Maryssa Becker has driven in a team-high 35 RBI and has seven home runs on the season.
• Becker (14-5) also leads the Cardinals' pitching staff with a 2.12 ERA and 128 strikeouts in 142.0 innings. Freshman Shelby McCombs (8-5) follows with a 3.16 ERA and 61 Ks in 93.0 innings of work.
• Sandy Pearsall is in her 16th season as UofL's head coach. After building the program from scratch in 2000, Pearsall has guided the Cardinals to six conference championships. Under her watch, Louisville has made 11 consecutive NCAA regional appearances and served as a host site in 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013. On March 14, Pearsall recorded her 600th win at UofL (also the 600th victory in program history). She is now 617-311 as the Cardinals' head coach.
Cards against Pittsburgh
Series Record: Louisville leads 14-1
The programs were BIG EAST rivals from 2006 to 2013 prior to Pittsburgh joining the ACC in 2014. Last Meeting: April 17, 2013- Louisville won both games of a BIG EAST Conference doubleheader 8-5 and 15-0 at Ulmer Stadium.
Scouting the Panthers: Pittsburgh enters the matchup with a 32-17 overall record after taking both games of a doubleheader with St. Francis (PA) on Wednesday. The Panthers stand at 10-11 in conference play. Shelby Pickett leads the Panthers with a .373 average and a team-high 43 runs. McKayla Taylor contributes a .311 average with a team-high 13 home runs and t52 RBIs.
• In the circle, Savannah King leads the Panthers with a 17-7 record with a 3.11 ERA in 32 appearances. Freshman Kayla Harris also sees action in the circle and has compiled an 11-10 record with a 3.70 ERA for the Panthers.
Up Next:
The Cards will travel to Blacksburg, Va. for the ACC Championship which will be held May 7-9 on the campus of Virginia Tech.
A glance at the ACC
Louisville is currently fourth in ACC standings with a 14-6 conference mark. Florida State has already clinched the regular season title with a 20-3 league record. North Carolina follows at 16-5 and Notre Dame is third at 17-6. • Louisville has one more ACC opponent remaining on the schedule, a three-game set at Pittsburgh (10-11 ACC/6th place) this weekend.
Last Up: Sophomore Maryssa Becker tossed a one-hit shutout and senior Kelsi Jones backed her with a leadoff home run in the sixth to lift the University of Louisville softball team to a 1-0 win over in-state rival Western Kentucky Wednesday evening at Ulmer Stadium. Becker notched her sixth complete game shutout of the season and third in the last four games. The sophomore hurler struck out six en route to her second one-hitter of the season. Jones finished the game with a 1 for 2 performance at the plate.
Most recent ACC series: Louisville won its most recent ACC series with a pair of victories against Boston College. The Cardinals took game one 3-1 Friday and won the first game of Sunday's doubleheader 1-0 before falling 3-0 in the series finale.
Becker leads Cardinals to a 3-1 performance on the week
Maryssa Becker posted a 0.32 ERA and struck out 22 in 21.2 innings of work last week. She picked up three wins with two complete-game shutouts, including a one-hit shutout against No. 17/19 Kentucky. The sophomore RHP scattered eight hits and held opponents to a .111 batting average. She helped her cause offensively with a two-run homer in the win over Kentucky and drove in the only run in the 1-0 win over Boston College on Sunday. In the Cardinals' loss to BC, Becker held the Eagles scoreless and fanned three in 1.2 innings of relief.
• She now leads the team with a 13-5 record, a 2.23 ERA and 122 Ks. She also has a team-best seven home runs and 35 RBIs.
Senior Salute
The senior class of 2015 has helped the Cardinals to 165 wins, two conference tournament titles, one regular season conference championship, and three NCAA regional appearances. During the last four years, Louisville has spent 34 weeks in the top 25 reaching as high as seventh in the nation and staying in the top 10 during nine ranking periods.
Soggy season
The Cardinals have had eight games cancelled due to weather this season. The following is a list of weather-impacted games:
• The entire Eastern Kentucky Invitational (four games: Kent State-twice; Western Michigan, Eastern Kentucky (Feb. 21-22)
• The second game of the DePaul doubleheader (April 8)
• The third game of the Florida State series (April 13)
• Two games in the series against Ole Miss (April 17 and 19)
Becker strong in the circle
In the last seven games dating back to the Cards 1-0 win over then-No 8/10 Florida State, Maryssa Becker has allowed only three runs in 36.2 innings of work for a 0.57 ERA. During that span, the sophomore ace has tossed four complete-game shutouts including a pair of one-hitters against No. 17/19 Kentucky and Western Kentucky.
Getting on base
Maryssa Becker has batted in 42 of Louisville's 43 games and has reached safely via a hit or a walk in all but three games - snapping a career-high 32-game on-base streak in the 2-0 loss to Virginia Tech on April 4. Kelsi Jones recently ended a 20-game on-base streak while Whitney Arion had a 16-game on-base streak end on April 3. Kayla Soles recently snapped a 15-game on-base streak.
Hitting for average
The Cardinals are batting .313 as a team with eight players hitting .300 or above. Kelsi Jones leads the team with a .392 average while Jordan McNary follows closely at .390.
Balance of power
Louisville has belted out 35 home runs through 43 games this season. Twelve different players have registered one homer with eight connecting on multiple round-trippers. Maryssa Becker leads the team with seven.
Fountain of youth
The graduation of six senior multi-year starters including two All-Americans from last year's team has left the Cardinals with some big shoes to fill. The Cardinals' most recent starting lineup featured six underclassmen on the field with two of the three active pitchers being freshmen - the other is a sophomore.
Arion climbing record books
Senior shortstop Whitney Arion is currently 10th on the school's career list with 24 home runs. She needs one more to tie Sara Bausher (2002-05) for ninth place. Courtney Moore (2004-07) holds the record with 42 home runs.
• Arion also recently moved to eighth on UofL's career RBI list with 131. She needs nine more to tie Keola Calderon (2000-03) for seventh place. Chelsea Bemis (2008-11) holds the career RBI record with 191.
• In the March 19 game against Miami, Arion made her 200th career start - the most of any player on the team.She now has 220 career starts and needs two more to move into the school's top 10.
Becker registers 200th career strikeout - moves into career top 10
Sophomore Maryssa Becker registered her 200th career strikeout in the 7-5 win over Virginia on March 15.
• She is currently ranked eighth on Louisville's list of career strikeout leaders with 269. Kristen Wadwell (2007-10) holds the school record with 696.
Arion Reaches Century Mark in Runs
Senior Whitney Arion's solo home run in the 7-5 win over Virginia produced her 100th career run. She currently has 111 in her career, needing six more to move into a three-way tie with Sara Bausher (2002-05) and Alicja Wolny (2010-13) for 10th on UofL's all-time list.
Louisville/Sandy Pearsall Reach 600 wins
The 5-0 win over Virginia on March 14 marked the 600th win in Louisville softball program history. It was also head coach Sandy Pearsall's 600th victory since starting the program in 2000. Under her watch, Louisville has won six conference championships, made 11 consecutive NCAA regional appearances and served as a host site in 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013.
New neighborhood, familiar faces
The 2015 season marks Louisville softball's debut in the Atlantic Coast Conference. While the Cardinals will be facing some new opponents, they will also be encountering some familiar foes in Notre Dame, Pittsburgh and Syracuse - all of whom played in the BIG EAST Conference prior to joining the ACC.
• In 2014, the Cardinals competed in their lone season in the inaugural season of the American Athletic Conference.
• Louisville was a member of the BIG EAST Conference from 2006-2013, and won two regular season titles and two conference tournaments during that time.
• Prior to moving to the BIG EAST, the Cardinals spent six seasons in Conference USA where they won 2005 regular season title. UofL was one of seven teams to play in the league's first season of softball.
• The following is a breakdown of the Cards' inaugural conference seasons:
Conference First season UofL Conference RecordAmerican* 2014 14-7 (Finished 3rd regular season, won tournament title)BIG EAST 2006 19-3 (Regular season Champion)Conference USA% 2000 8-8^ (Finished 4th- regular season)^UofL's first softball program;*AAC Inaugural conference season; % C-USA's inaugural softball season
Cards shine in the classroom
The University of Louisville softball team worked hard off the field in the 2014-15 fall semester. As a team, the Cards posted a 3.34 GPA in the fall semester. Additionally, 17 players were named to the Athletic Director's honor roll after posting a 3.0 GPA or higher.
The following players were named to the 2014-15 Athletic Director's honor roll for the fall semester: Whitney Arion, Maryssa Becker, Sydney Benz, Kristina Dillard, Brittany Duncan, Bridgette Flaherty, Kelsi Jones, Autumn McDuffie, Sidney Melton, Morgan Meyer, Madi Norman, Nicole Pufahl, Brittany Sims, Hailey Smith, Kayla Soles, Alison Szydlowski and Hannah Tow.
